Expert: Have4Paws - 7/10/2010

Question
hi there,i have a 3yr old beagle named basil,he weighs about 23kgs.i recently put him on hills science diet dog food.it reccomends 2cups of dry food a day,im wondering if i can add some vegetables to this,if so how much?and does he stay on the same food for the rest of his life.how boring. thankyou for your advice. ROZZ

Answer
Hi Rozz, thanks for writing to me and caring so much about your boy Basil! Two cups of food a day is too much for him which is most likely the reason he is fat. He should be eating about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of food TWICE a day. I do not recommend feeding once a day. Think about if you only got to eat once a day, you would be hungry all the time wouldn't you? Basil needs his food stretched out so his tummy is full in the AM AND in the PM. Depending on when you get up in the morning will depend on when to feed him. For instance I feed mine at 8:00 am and 7 PM and believe you me they are like time clocks when it comes to the 7 PM feeding, they know what time it is instinctively (their bellies tell them). Anyway this will help to stimulate some wt loss and balance out his digestion. Just like with humans, if you eat once a day your body holds on to the fat as it thinks it isn't going to get any more food so it wont release it, it is a sort of starvation mentality that the body goes into.

Next, yes he should stay on the same food for the rest of his life as long as he is doing well with it. The variety thing is a human trait, dogs don't care about variety, they only care about eating, period. Of course if you offer him other things he will eat it but he has no sense of  "Oh man I am getting the same stuff again!" For his digestive purposes it is essential for him to stay on the same food. Switching things up will lead to diarrhea and GI upset in dogs. I also do not believe in giving them ANY human food, their bodies are not able to properly digest and break it down. This is why there is dog food, the quality foods such as the one you have chosen are completely balanced with all that a dog needs in their diet to be healthy. Once in a blue moon I will give mine a baby carrot piece or a miniscule piece of a pretzel but is as a treat and they have to do a sit and down for it. This is very few and far between because as I said it can give them diarrhea or make them vomit, and believe me they are just as happy when it is their regular doggy biscuit instead, they don't know or care about the difference. As humans we tend to project our traits onto our canines and it isn't always in their best interests. Just a precaution since I am not sure if you know this the following things are toxic to dogs;
raisins, grapes, avocados, macadamia nuts, onions and garlic!

Hope this was helpful.... please remember to send in your rating! Thanks  :)